You probably were not counting on an algebra question today. But all this talk of an expanded schedule has got me thinking about how many players will be allotted when the league moves to 18 games. I'm thinking this is all but done, once the owners approve (and they will because there's more money for them). The NFLPA will come on board once they see the $$$ for them.

So what's the new number of players? Let's start with what we have today (please correct me if I am wrong): 53 players on the roster (45 active gamers + 8 inactives) with another 8 on the practice squad. The trick for the league will be to increase the roster without diluting quality. I'd like to see them move to 50 active gamers + 10 inactives for a new roster total of 60. I think the practice squad should be bumped to 10 as well. If for nothing else, the round numbers would help everyone remember how many players we have in each class of eligibility.

This seems to be reasonable, of course the extra money for the expanded roster (7 additional players) must come from somewhere, my vote is that it comes from the cap on rookie salaries in the new CBA. The new pot of money from the extra games should be spread amongst the vets.